View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Leeds Beckett Repository International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching Volume 9 · Number 4 · 2014 693 Professionalism, Golf Coaching and a Master of Science Degree Simon Jenkins School of Sport, Carnegie Faculty Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, LS6 3QT, UK E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT A distinction can be made between ‘professionalisation’, which is concerned with occupational status and standing, and ‘professionalism,’ which refers to matters of quality and standards of practice (especially specialized knowledge, ethics and altruism). The purpose of this stimulus article is to present key features of contemporary medical professionalism as a basis for critically reflecting on discourse associated with Tiger Woods’ current coach, Sean Foley. It is suggested that that provision of a Master of Science degree in golf teaching/coaching would facilitate the development of ‘professionalism’ in golf coaches. Key words: Altruism, Coach Education, Ethics, Evidence-Based Medicine, Golf Instruction, Professional Golfers’ Association, Reflective Practice, Scholarship, Scientism, Self-Awareness, Specialized Knowledge, Spirituality, Trust, Values INTRODUCTION The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) of America, which is the world’s largest working sports organisation with currently 27,000 members, was formed in 1916 [1]. The mission of The PGA of America is to promote the employment and involvement of the game of golf and to contribute to its growth by providing services to golf professionals, consumers and the golf industry [2]. A Code of Ethics was added to the Constitution in 1931, and in 1933 membership required a three-year apprenticeship. Membership rose from 1548 in 1926, to 2236 in 1946. The Teaching Committee issued “A Teacher’s Guide” in 1950. The tournament players formed their own organisation in 1968. In 1970 the PGA of America apprentice program was established. In 1975, the first Professional Golf Management (PGM) School was established at Ferris State University in Michigan. In 1986 membership of the PGA reached 9411, in addition to 5111 apprentices. In 1991 Penn State University became the fourth PGM School. Membership of the PGA reached 23,000 in 1993. In 1994, the Golf Professional Training Program (GPTP) was the first major renovation of PGA education and training since 1970. In 2008 the PGA unveiled its new logo (the first since 1990) and brand strategy – “The Experts in the Game and Business of Golf”. In the same year, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore became the twentieth and first historically black college/university to join the PGM program. [1] In 2012 the PGA launched Golf 2.0., endorsed by Jack Nicklaus, at the 59th PGA Merchandise Show [2]. The three prime 694 Professionalism, Golf Coaching and a Master of Science Degree strategies of Golf 2.0 are: “retain and strengthen the core of current golfers, engage lapsed golfers who no longer play, and drive new players to the game” [3]1. The PGA’s Annual Report, 2011 stated: As Golf 2.0 moves forward in the years ahead, the evolution of PGA Education will continue to mirror updated requirements. For example in 2012, Player Development will become one of four areas of certification, joining General Management, Golf Operations and Instruction. The PGA already has modified and renamed the PGA Professional Golf Management to PGM 2.0. The Certified Professional Program is now CPP 2.0, and the PGA Master Professional Program is MPP 2.0. The PGA Golf Management University curriculum, which is being pursued by some 2,600 students at 20 sanctioned universities across the nation, is also addressing the goals of Golf 2.0. [3, p. 9-10] The PGA of America is a member of the PGA World Alliance, which was born from the World PGA Conference which started in 2004 before a first formal meeting at the third such conference in 2010. The PGA World Alliance, which represents more than 56,000 PGA Professionals and more than 22,000 PGA-member golf facilities is “dedicated to the betterment of the Profession, the Game and the Business of Golf Worldwide” [7]. The United States Golf Teaching Federation (USGTF) was established in 1989 and has 25,000 members in 42 countries [8]. There is an Amateur Division of the USGTF, the National Golf Teachers Federation in which members “retain their amateur status by not accepting monetary compensation for lessons or tournament play” [9]. The World Golf Teachers Federation (WGTF) was established in 1993 and it claims to be “the first and only worldwide membership entity of golf teaching professionals that adapted a standardized method of certification to cross boundaries amongst all golfing nations” [10]. The USGTF has four Golf Teaching Professional Certification Levels. The first two Levels are achieved by online study, but the third Level – to become a Certified Golf Teaching Professional® is achieved through a five-day, on-site course which includes a Playing Ability Test. (“It is not necessary to attain Levels 1 and II prior to Level III Full Certification.”) The fourth level is USGTF Master Teaching Professional® and this can be achieved through a three-day, on-site course by someone who is a “fully certified member in good standing for a minimum of one year”. [11]. The USGTF has a Code of Ethics [12]. The World Golf Coaches Alliance (WGCA) is the official coach division of the USGTF and the term Certified Professional Golf Coach® is a United States federal registered trademark. A golf coach is defined by the WGCA as “an individual who helps those who compete at golf whether individually or in a team” whereas a golf teacher is “an individual who instructs others how to play the game of golf” [13]. The USGTF has been marketed as an alternative to the PGA and in this regard there is a large amount of discourse on blog sites on issues related to professionalisation such as monopoly, length of certification process, and licensing. Evetts defines ‘professionalisation’ 1 “Sub-sets of Golf 2.0 include programs such as Get Golf Ready, Connecting with Her for women, PGA Junior League Golf, an alliance with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and many other platforms designed to enlist future generations of golfers. … for 2013, the PGA of America has allocated $12 million for Golf 2.0 and Growth of the Game initiatives” [4] According to the National Golf Foundation, the number of players in the USA who played at least one round of golf peaked at 30 million in 2005, but fell to 25.7 million in 2011 [5]. The goal of Golf 2.0 is to increase the number of golfers in the USA to 40 million by 2020 [6]. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching Volume 9 · Number 4 · 2014 695 as “the series of diverse and variable, social and historical, processes of development, of how work sometimes becomes an occupation…and how some occupations achieve various forms of occupational control of work” [14, p. 120]. Evetts compares Anglo-American to continental European models / perceptions of professionalisation: In both the UK and USA…the professional associations have commonly acted as highly visible advocates for and defenders of the professional interests of their members in their negotiations both with states in respect of exclusionary licensing arrangements and with universities in respect of accreditation procedures. … In Europe, state bureaucracies have operated the licensing and accreditation procedures resulting in closer connections between states and professions in professionalisation processes. [14, p. 121] The USGTF has had legal wrangles with the PGA Tour over trademarking of the World Golf Association [15]. The German Golf Teaching Federation (GGTF) took the German PGA to court and won a ruling in order to gain acceptance with the German Golf Federation for training the German public for their “green card” to play golf on both public and private courses [16]. In a similar “restrictive trade practice lawsuit” in Holland, the Dutch Golf Teachers Federation won a court victory over NGF Holland [17]. From the perspective of the PGA of America, the emergence of the USGTF could possibly be seen in terms of ‘deprofessionalisation’; i.e., “the process by which highly educated and skilled professionals are first displaced then replaced with individuals of inferior training and compensation” [18]. At the crux of the matter is the length of training/certification process, which is much shorter in the USGTF, and the standard of the ‘playing ability test’, which is less rigorous in the USGTF [19, 20]. However, there is also the issue of specialisation. The education and training of PGA professionals is essentially geared towards being a golf professional of a ‘generalist’ nature. The USGTF is dedicated exclusively to golf teaching/coaching. For a comprehensive article on matters of professionalisation and professionalism from the perspective of the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland, including volunteer amateur coaches, see Phillpots [21]. Other PGAs who have recently made major developments in coach education include the PGA of New Zealand, who, along with New Zealand Golf, Inc. and [what is now] Sport New Zealand “identified the need for a dedicated golf coach development pathway, where a person can register for a training programme and enter into an introductory programme of golf coach training...and be trained to whatever level they aspire, all the way to a high performance golf coach, either paid or unpaid” [22]. PROFESSIONALISM VERSUS PROFESSIONALISATION The following definition of ‘profession’ by Professions Australia in 1997 emphasizes ethics, altruism, and special[ized] knowledge: A profession is a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised body of learning derived from research, education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to apply this knowledge and exercise these skills in the interest of others.